He ‘Saved My Life and Lost His:’ Las Vegas Shooting Victims

A picture taken on October 2, 2017 shows the Tel Aviv city hall lit up in the colours of the American national flag to honour the victims of an attack in the American city of Las Vegas, at the Rabin Square in Tel Aviv.
A gunman has opened fire on a music festival in Las Vegas, leaving at least 20 people dead and more than 100 injured. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been shot. The investigation is ongoing. / AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

By JASON DEAREN, Associated Press

A registered nurse from Tennessee who died shielding his wife, a doctor, from gunfire. The only son of a Canadian couple who is now left childless. A popular secretary at a New Mexico High School.

All were among the at least 58 people killed in the mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, a tragedy that has left behind loved ones in many parts of the country and world.

Details began to emerge Monday about some of those slain and the hundreds more who were injured after a gunman opened fire on festivalgoers.

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Commercial fisherman Adrian Murfitt, 35, of Anchorage, Alaska, was also among the slain, a family member said Monday.

His sister, Shannon Gothard, said the family heard from one of Murfitt’s friends who was with him when he died though they haven’t received official confirmation about his death.

Asked if the family was holding out hope that he made it after all, she said, “No. No.”

Gothard described her brother as a man with a big hearty laugh, a former competitive hockey player who still dabbled in the game.

“His whole life was always around hockey,” she said.

After graduating from high school, he became a fisherman, picking up odd jobs in the offseason.

He had just come off an extremely successful fishing season when he made the trip to Las Vegas with some good friends, Gothard said.

Her brother “was happy to pay some things off and had made some really good money and decided to go out and celebrate and go to the concert and treat himself to something nice and fun,” she said.

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Sonny Melton, a registered nurse, died in the shooting, according to The Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tennessee, where he worked.

His wife, Dr. Heather Melton, an orthopedic surgeon who was with him when shots were fired, survived, the medical center said.

Heather Melton told WZTV in Nashville, Tennessee that her husband “saved my life and lost his.” She says her husband was the most kind-hearted, loving man she ever met.

Friend Jeremy Butler told the Paris (Tennessee) Post-Intelligencer that Melton was shielding Heather Melton from gunfire when he was fatally shot.

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Real estate agent and father of three older children Rob McIntosh, 52, of North Pole, Alaska, was near the front of the stage with friends when the shooting began, according to friend and real estate broker Mike Vansickle. He was hit repeatedly but survived, Vansickle said.

“From just getting off the phone with the family, he took three bullets to his body,” said Vansickle. “He just came out of surgery, and he’s going to make it.”

In a personal note on his real estate website, McIntosh describes himself as enjoying the outdoors in Alaska, where he also operates a business called Santa’s Fireworks.

“Whether I’m fishing, snow machining, hunting, steel welding or building my own home or cabin; I stay active all year round,” McIntosh wrote.

Vansickle described McIntosh as being strong.

“He’s been though lots of adversity,” said Vansickle. “He’ll get through all this and come out with some stories to tell.”

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Lisa Romero, a high school secretary from Gallup, New Mexico, was killed during Sunday night’s attack in Las Vegas, the Gallup-McKinley County Schools announced Monday.

District officials confirmed to reporters on Monday that Romero, 48, died sometime after a 64-year-old man fired multiple weapons.

“Last night during the mass shooting in Las Vegas we lost one of our staff members,” Mike Hyatt, interim superintendent for Gallup-McKinley County Public Schools, wrote to employees. “Lisa Romero, discipline secretary at Miyamura (High School), was a victim in the shooting. Our prayers go out to her family during this tragic time.”

She was an “incredible loving and sincere friend, mentor and advocate for students,” Hyatt said.

Survivors included Romero-Muniz’s husband, children and grandchildren, Hyatt said. Officials announced a candlelight vigil in honor of Romero-Muniz set for Monday night.

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Sgt. Jeff Higbee of the police department of the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario said a four-year veteran of the force was shot in the head at the concert.

Officer Michael Gracia and his girlfriend, who have a baby, were both hit by gunfire, Higbee said.

Her injuries are not life threatening, Higbee said. He did not have more details. “He’s always real personable, upbeat, a real friendly guy,” Higbee said.

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Rachael Parker, a police records technician, was shot and ultimately died in the hospital, the Manhattan Beach Police Department said.

Parker was among four department employees who were attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival while off-duty. Another suffered minor injuries.

“She was employed with the Manhattan Beach Police Department for 10 years and will be greatly missed,” the department said in a statement.

Mechanic’s apprentice Jordan McIldoon, 23, of Maple Ridge, British Columbia was among those slain.

“We only had one child,” Al and Angela McIldoon, told the CBC. “We just don’t know what to do.”

The couple says their son was attending the music festival with his girlfriend.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan offered condolences and says flags will be dropped to half-mast on the province’s Parliament buildings and on government buildings in Maple Ridge.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said Tuesday Jessica Klymchuk, a 28-year-old Albertan, also was among those who died. Notley expressed sympathy for the loss.

Klymchuk worked as an educational assistant, librarian and bus driver at St. Stephen’s School in Valleyview.

In a statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced the “senseless and cowardly act of violence.”

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Sandy Casey, a middle school special education teacher from Manhattan Beach, California, was killed in Sunday night’s attack, the school district said.

“This is unbelievably tragic and sad,” Mike Matthews, superintendent of the Manhattan Beach School District, wrote in a Monday morning letter to the district. “This loss is impacting many of our staff members deeply.”

Casey is a 2004 alumna of the College of St. Joseph in Rutland, Vermont, according to a Facebook post in the college’s alumni page.

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Kristin Babik, a law student at the University of Florida in Las Vegas for an internship at the Clark County district attorney’s office, suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung in the shooting, the school said.

“Kristin is on bed rest for now,” an email from the law school’s dean said. “We look forward to welcoming her back to Gainesville as soon as she recovers.”

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Among the injured were two off-duty personnel from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, the agency confirmed. Both were transported to a local hospital after being hit by gunfire.

One remains in critical condition and the other is in stable condition, the department said in a statement. No names or details on their positions at the department were being released at this time.